Yangtze turtle that time almost forgot

Last hope … the female giant soft-shell turtle at Changsha zoo.Photo: The New York Times

UNNOTICED and unappreciated for five decades, a large female turtle with a stained, leathery shell is now a precious commodity in this city's decaying zoo. She is fed a special diet of raw meat. Her small pool has been encased with bulletproof glass. A surveillance camera monitors her movements. A guard is posted at night.

The agenda is simple: the turtle must not die.

Earlier this year, scientists concluded that she was the planet's last known female giant Yangtze soft-shell turtle. She is about 80 years old and weighs almost 45 kilograms. As it happens, the planet also has only one undisputed known male. He lives at a zoo in the city of Suzhou. He is 100 years old and weighs about 90 kilograms. They are the last hope of saving a species believed to be the largest freshwater turtles in the world.

"It's a very dire situation," said Peter Pritchard, a prominent turtle expert in the US who has been involved in efforts to save the species. "This one is so big and it has such an aura of mystery. One can't ignore its importance."

For many Chinese, turtles symbolise health and longevity, but the saga of the last two giant Yangtze soft-shells is more symbolic of the threatened state of wildlife and biodiversity in China. Pollution, hunting and rampant development are destroying natural habitats, and endangering plant and animal populations.

China contains some of the world's richest troves of biodiversity, yet the latest big survey of plants and animals reveals a bleak picture that has grown bleaker during the past decade. Nearly 40 per cent of all mammal species in China are now endangered, scientists say. For plants, the situation is worse; 70 per cent of all non-flowering plant species and 86 per cent of flowering species are considered threatened. Already, according to one survey, China has lost half of its wetlands.

Fifty-one years ago, a travelling circus performed at the new zoo in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province in southern China. For a cash payment, the circus left behind a large female turtle. Zookeepers slipped the turtle into a large pond, where for a half-century it hibernated in winter and poked its pig-like snout above the water's surface every spring.

In recent years, turtle experts identified the giant Yangtze soft-shell, also known as Rafetus swinhoei, as dangerously close to extinction. Inside the Changsha zoo, zookeepers had no idea that experts were scouring China for the species. In fact, they knew very little about their female turtle. "We just treated it like a normal animal," said Yan Xiahui, deputy director of the zoo. "We didn't expect it would be so important."

By 2004, after conducting field surveys in China and Vietnam, herpetologists concluded that six of the turtles were still alive. Three were in Chinese zoos, in Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou; two others lived in a Buddhist temple in Suzhou; and a sixth lived in a lake in the centre of Hanoi, Vietnam.

But as negotiations towards a breeding program were under way, three died, doubts emerged that the Hanoi turtle was the same species, and scientists were unable to find any evidence of one of the Suzhou temple turtles.

Every zoo in China was sent an urgent circular asking for any information about their large turtles. Officials at the Changsha zoo responded. Email messages and photographs were exchanged. The Wildlife Conservation Society sent two experts to Changsha.

The discovery of the Changsha turtle was critical. It meant there were two undisputed giant Yangtze soft-shells remaining: the female in Changsha and the male in Suzhou. Neither had commingled with the opposite sex in decades, if ever.

The zoos have agreed that scientists can attempt artificial insemination next northern spring.

Gerald Kuchling, a herpetologist overseeing the procedure, said success was far from guaranteed. "The main problem is really to get a viable sperm sample from the old male without harming him in any way," said Mr Kuchling, who added that using small electric shocks was one common method for eliciting a sample. Manual massage is another.

The Changsha turtle will be transported to Suzhou next year.

Scientists will try artificial insemination first. If that fails, the two elderly turtles will give it a go the old-fashioned way.

1196812919925-smh.com.auhttp://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/yangtze-turtle-that-time-almost-forgot/2007/12/06/1196812919925.htmlsmh.com.auThe New York Times2007-12-07Yangtze turtle that time almost forgotJim Yardley in Changsha, ChinaSpecialsEnvironmenthttp://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/12/06/turtle_narrowweb__300x450,0.jpg